He stood, legs spread and arms flung out wide, and around him I swear the air seemed to ripple.
Then he reached back and pulled the most big-ass sword I’d ever seen from a scabbard on his back.
Holy shit. I didn’t know what kind of demon this was, but I wasn’t inclined to hang around and find out, not with Rose on the back of my bike.
“Go,” she hissed, though I was already turning the handlebars to swing the bike around. “Leave.”
I realized then that she wasn’t Rose anymore. She was Johnson. And Johnson wanted out of there at least as much as I did.
I gunned it, the back tire fishtailing on the gritty street. And as I accelerated down the road, willing the bike to build up speed, I heard the beast behind me release a loud, hell-shattering war cry.
I didn’t turn around, though I wanted to. Wanted to see this thing I was escaping. But I knew that if I did turn, we wouldn’t get out of there. I had to keep going, keep moving, and I was trying—trying so damn hard—to will the bike faster.
No use.
We were about a block and a half away when the cry echoed again, this time followed by an odd whoosh and then the sharp clank of metal on metal.
The sound confused me, and it was only when we were skidding out of control that I realized the source—the warrior demon had heaved that sword, sending it flying down the street to intersect with the back tire of my bike.
Of course, by the time I realized this, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. The back tire locked up, the bike jerked, and though it all happened so fast that the details are a blur, somehow Rose and I ended up on the side of the road, with the bike on top of us—and our view down the street unimpaired.
A view that was dominated by that massive warrior demon, marching straight toward us, the lust for the kill shining bright in his eyes.
NINE
“Get it off! Get it off!” Rose screamed, even as I was scrambling to do that very thing. “It’s burning me!”
Her leg was wedged under the exhaust pipe, and I was trying to move fast, but even über-girl-superchick strength wasn’t instantaneous, and I’d landed at an off angle, meaning I was wasting precious seconds.
I twisted at the waist, leaving my legs trapped, and closed my hands over the gas tank. With one deep groan, I shoved up, ordering Rose to scoot backward as I did.
She didn’t hesitate, and soon she was clear of the bike, the smell of burning denim and flesh wafting in the air as she moved.
“Lily! Hurry!”
In my peripheral vision, I could see her climbing to her feet, looking at something back the way we’d come.
I didn’t need to turn to know what it was—the warrior demon was coming closer.
I drew in another breath and shoved again—hard—lifting the bike enough to free my own legs. I dragged myself back over the rough surface of the street, gravel cutting into my hands, my head twisting only once to gauge my enemy’s approach.
Immediately, I wished I hadn’t.
That sucker moved fast, and I grabbed Rose’s hand, yanking her to her feet with me. “Run!”
She didn’t hesitate, didn’t argue, but she was limping, her burned leg slowing her down, and the demon was coming. Closer, closer . . . >
“Go, Lily! Just go!”
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not leaving you.”
“He’ll come out,” she said, and I knew she was referring to Johnson. “He’ll come, and he’ll fight. I’ll be okay,” she added, but from the pure terror on her face, I knew she didn’t believe it.
Me either. In no form or fashion did I consider Johnson popping up inside her to save the day a good thing. No way, no how.
I yanked hard on her hand and pulled her behind me. I didn’t want to do this—didn’t want to fight with Rose right there—but he was coming too fast.
Time to make a stand.
I closed my hand around the hilt of my blade and pulled it from its sheath. Behind me, Rose was saying, “No, no, no,” over and over again.
“You run,” I said. “I’ll be okay.” I steeled myself, holding my knife at the ready. “This is what they made me for.” And, dammit, I hoped that was true. Because this demon was more fierce, more bold, more everything than any I’d faced before.
“No,” she said. “I’m not—”
“Dammit, Rose, run!” She gawked at me, nodded, then scampered down the street, favoring her injured leg. I only watched for a second, then turned back to the warrior, now about three houses away. It had slowed its pace and was watching me, head tilted to one side as it took my measure.
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” I murmured. “Let’s get this over with.”